Egor Dëmin didn’t sound worried after the right-leg injury that sent him to the locker room Tuesday night in Boston.
“I’ll be good. I mean, it’s nothing serious, so I’ll be ready to go,” Dëmin told reporters after the Nets ‘ 125-124 overtime loss at TD Garden.
Dëmin said Paul George kneed him in the leg and left him with a contusion. The second-year guard was hurt late in the second quarter, limped off with 2:22 left before halftime, and never returned.
“I just got kneed in the muscle/bone area,” Dëmin said. “Now it feels better. I think I’ll be ready in a couple of days.”
Before leaving, Dëmin had logged two points, two assists, one rebound and a steal in 10 minutes. His lone basket came early in the first quarter when he picked off a George pass and turned it into a transition dunk.
His exit cut short an encouraging look at Brooklyn’s revamped starting backcourt. Head coach Jordi Fernández had started Nolan Traoré for the first time this season, putting him next to Dëmin and moving Keon Ellis out of the opening group. Traoré responded right away, scoring nine points on 4-for-4 shooting in the opening quarter as the Nets built a 31-26 lead.
Brooklyn still led 61-56 at halftime, even with Dëmin already out. The backcourt got even thinner later when Traoré started dealing with cramps.
“Yeah, he was cramping and then I felt like he was not moving well,” Fernández said.
Traoré still finished with 15 points in just under 24 minutes, but the load shifted to Mikel Brown Jr. once Dëmin was gone and Traoré was limited. The rookie played just under 28 minutes, scored 17 points and hit a corner 3-pointer that forced overtime before Boston won on Jayson Tatum’s buzzer-beater.
Fernández did not offer a timetable for Dëmin’s return.
The 20-year-old had started each of Brooklyn’s first four games after appearing in 52 as a rookie. Tuesday’s injury also prevented a longer look at how he would fit beside Traoré in the Nets’ new starting setup.
Brooklyn is back home Friday against the Detroit Pistons, leaving Dëmin two days to recover. He sounded optimistic, but the team has not said whether he’ll be available. For a Nets group still chasing its first win, that’s the main question now.
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Instead, a late mistake gave the Celtics the opening they needed in a game that was already hanging by a thread. The Nets left with a 125-124 overtime loss, a brutal ending in a matchup that had been there for the taking and will linger because the final possession turned from a chance to close it out into another reminder of how thin the margin is on the road. [Read more 🡒]
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Nets May Have Avoided A Bigger Egor Demin Scare
Egor Demins night ended early in Boston after he left with a right leg contusion and never returned, a frustrating turn in an overtime loss for the Nets. The injury came after a collision with Paul George, and Brooklyn was left to sort through another short-handed finish while trying to assess how much trouble its rookie guard was really in.
Demin offered a calmer read after the game, saying the issue does not appear serious and that he expects to be back in a couple of days. Even so, there was still some uncertainty about whether he would need imaging, and his availability for Fridays matchup with the Detroit Pistons remains up in the air. [Read more 🡒]